Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 6:14 pm  |  26 responses

Hey Myles, Again

When am I going to get the team of evil bastards I was promised?

Is it just me, or has "Team Evil" been acting more like Dr. Evil these first 30 games?

Is it just me, or has "Team Evil" been acting more like Dr. Evil these first 30 games?


By Allen Powell II


I’m confused.
When I claimed my spot on the Miami Heat bandwagon, I thought I was signing up for the thrill ride of the season. Not only did I expect gravity-defying dunks, vicious crossovers and stifling defense, I expected a certain something extra.

Call it swagger if you must, but I wanted to watch a team where players hooped with a chip on their shoulders the size of Steve Nash’s forehead. I wanted to see sneers, smirks and stare downs. I wanted Team Evil. Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine on the wings with Jabba the Hut as the trailer. Hide ya babies, hide ya wives because they raping everybody!

That so has not happened.

It ain’t about basketball. We all knew going in that Wade and LeBron had similar games, we knew that Chris Bosh isn’t a banger and we knew that injuries are an inevitable part of every NBA season. Basketball problems alone are not enough to explain why Team South Beach has played like Team South Bitch.

Could it be that despite the poverty and media attention that dominated his childhood, LeBron James really thought he’d be loved for flipping the entire basketball script? Did he really believe that a few well-placed clichés and commercials would soothe the anger of sports fans who have been spoon fed for years the idea that only general managers and team presidents know what’s best for players?

It seems impossible that a jaded, image-conscious megastar like LeBron James could be that naive and unprepared, but that’s really all I’m left with right now. Until he went to Cleveland and wallowed in that vitriol while posting vintage numbers, LeBron resembled a two-year old who just got smacked for playing with an electrical outlet:
“I thought you loved me! You said you loved me? Love me!”

And if LeBron has been broadsided, I don’t know what to call Bosh and Wade. They have both spent time pouting and looking shocked that their entire games have had to be adjusted thanks to the fact that they are playing next to the world’s foremost ball-pounder. (It’s funny how ball pounding is only bad when some people do it. Every elite point guard in the league is a ball pounder, and very few of them make better decisions with the ball than LeBron. Think about it.)

If these cats actually colluded before going to Miami like much of the basketball world believes, then a point of discussion should have been the avalanche of hate that was headed their way. As they exchanged giggles and pounds about groupies and television appearances, somebody should have had the foresight to understand that the only way they were going to win a championship in year one was if they went into the season believing that everybody in the outside world hated them.

It’s not about envy it’s about hatred. Buzzwords like “unity” and “togetherness” aren’t enough. Miami should be searching for the type of “blood in, blood out” mentality that is commonplace in your favorite local gang or police department. They can’t just be together; they have to be together with the express purpose of cracking heads.
I’m not even totally convinced by this recent win streak, and it’s not because they are rolling crap teams. Everybody plays crap teams, but the best teams, the super teams, dispatch crap teams with an open disdain that is only matched by the perfection of their execution. The Miami Trio has the disdain down pat, but it feels more like misplaced hubris than bonafide confidence. Hubris gets you killed, word to Homer.

Miami has the talent to win the NBA Finals this year, but they need something to rally around, and it can’t be something nebulous like “legacy.” Somebody in that organization needs to recognize that this team needs an identity that is useful for everyone from the top dog to the runt of the litter. That’s more important than figuring out how LeBron and Wade co-exist, or deciding how to integrate Mike Miller, or determining whether Arroyo or Chalmers deserves fourth quarter minutes. This team needs to get its attitude straight because that will drive its effort, and that will carry it when execution can’t.

What you think Myles?


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  • T-Money

    Good write up but I don’t agree with the premiss. You would like Miami to play angry because that would be more entertaining for YOU – Miami doesn’t need to play angry or with a chip on their shoulder to play well. These three guys don’t want to embrace the villain roles and they don’t have to. What’s working for them right now is to let the hate bounce of on them and find joy in playing basketball the only way they know. The motivation will not come from hatred but from the pure joy of playing beautiful and efficient basketball together as a unit. That’s why you’re seeing LeBron getting back to shooting fadeaways while drifting baseline and D-Wade sizing up his defenders before a mid-range leaning jumper in transition: they’re getting back to who they are and not worrying about how they should play. Playing angry works for some guys like MJ and Kobe. But it was never necessary for TD, Magic and Dream to be champions. You are what you are.

  • T-Money

    And eventually, the hate will die dow. It has already. Bron will always be booed in Cleveland. LA and Boston too since they’re rivals but that’s pretty much it. The Decision seems like ages ago, who talks about that stuff anymore besides the Plain Dealer?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    You could be right.
    Although, I would argue that Magic played angry on many nights, that Dream often played with an inner rage that he just didn’t show on the outside and that the same thing could be true for Timmy.
    It’s not just about what I like, it’s about what LeBron was selling. His whole thing about lists and whatnot made me think he was coming out guns blazing. It’s fine to enjoy the game, but I honestly think that to play with the proper aggression needed to combat the two top teams in the league (L.A. and Boston) you have to match them aggression for aggression.
    We’ll see who is right and who is wrong.

  • hoodsnake

    They are playing an ‘us against the world’. You can hear it in the interviews but opnion has softned towards this squad

  • http://twitter.com/BeezKneezy LA Huey

    Nice write up, Allenp.

    I too was expecting much of the same as you were. But I guess if LeBron would flip the script laid out originally, it shouldn’t be surprising to see him buck the next role we had lined up for him.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Allen, you can’t hide anger. When people are truly angry about something, you can’t suppress that. And Magic, Hakeem and Tim Duncan never had any sort inner rage. You’re talking about three of the nicest guys in the history of the game. They were ultra competitive, but not angry. Not in the least. And if you bought anything that LBJ was selling — especially the notion that he was going to play with some sort of anger fueled by nationwide hate — then shame on you. Like T-Money said, you are who you are and the notion that these guys were going to transform themselves into something that they never were was just a fantasy. Like I’ve said before, they’re all image conscious and they want to be liked/loved. They’d be better served just being themselves instead of trying to play with a manufactured rage. Nobody is buying that. Well, almost nobody…

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Nice banner BTW…

  • http://www.need4sheed.com Tarzan Cooper

    They seem like nice guys who sometimes have a mean streak. They need a james posey with a permanent griminess. Haslem is kinda like that. …… But, thats not what the heat are. The games speak for tthemselves. Wins speak louder than any sort of attitude one might perceive. ……….. ……… A merman I shall turn to be………….. …. .West coast seattle boy!!!!!!!

  • 80

    It is not even about expectation of anger or whatever,the truth is that they play ugliest basketball ever seen by a “contender”. I expected so much more from then basketball wise ,not accusations that wade is tanking,bosh is underachiever and Lebron is a ballhog choking wades game.I never thought that this team will be the one to play the ball slow and execute iso after iso. Last night I turned the game on it was a 3rd quarter and I saw Big Z scoring about 10 points from the top of the key. He was lucky they all went in, but that’s ridiculous gameplan,let’s have our tallest guy be our jumpshooter. I need not to say that bosh would probably pickup the rebound had big z missed. I am still a nonbeliever knowing that playoff is a different type of sport comparing with regular season and that winning against teams like Philly or Washington show very little .

  • http://aspov.blogspot.com Cheryl

    Give ‘em two years, boys. Give ‘em two years…

  • http://aspov.blogspot.com Cheryl

    And what’s with the “b” word, AllenP? You know you got a feminist on this board, right?

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Two years, Cheryl? That’s the very reason why everyone’s stance has softened on Miami because the expectations keep getting lower and lower as the season progresses. Allen is the only one who still thinks they can win it all this year. I still don’t understand why, but he does.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    MJ in 95′-96′ stepped on the court nightly ready to murder. This shouldn’t be too far fetched. They had a PARADE.

  • http://sdfklfds.com Jukai

    The only criticism I have Allen… THE ONLY CRITICISM….
    It’s “hide yo kids, hides yo wives, and hide yo husbands…” You’re too old to be making the pop cultural references, man!

  • http://sdfklfds.com Jukai

    Bryan: Well, I disagree about Magic. Magic played angry a LOT. It’s just that, when they were winning, he couldn’t help hide his smile. He smiled the same way every time, so it was hard to tell when Magic was smiling his happy-go-lucky off-the-court love-me-lets-have-a-fivesome smile, and his f*ck-these-guys-I-love-killing-them smile. That was my take on Magic, anyway.
    Duncan and Dream, though, they never really played angry. Dream was angry at Robinson during the conference finals for not acknowledging him, but even Kenny Smith said that was the ONLY TIME he saw Hakeem angry. Duncan really doesn’t have emotions outside of solemness. And occasionally giddy, kid-like excitement.
    So I guess my point is, you DON’T need to have a killer, angry mentality to win championships. Magic did, though.

  • burnt_chicken

    that Hurley/Grant Hill/Christian Laettner Duke squad that won two titles might have been the angriest team I have ever seen. It’s no wonder that they were able to beat those undefeated super nice guy Runnin Rebs in 91.

  • burnt_chicken

    …which still sucks, by the way. LJ all day. And Plastic Man was my hero!

  • http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential Diesel

    First – the term ball pounder just sounds dirty. Second – I think players that “play angry” do so because they have that inner rage and drive. They’re playing angry because they want to show the fans and their opponents that they’re the best. Its refusing to lose. My opinion is if Lebron really had that anger and drive, he would have never left Cleveland.

  • burnt_chicken

    i play angry because I don’t have a choice. My brother plays happy-smiling and laughing–because he doesn’t either. People are naturally different and trying to assert that everybody would be best served offering one form of expression is, I think, quite simplistic and (decidedly) narrow-minded.

  • http://hoopistani.blogspot.com hoopistani

    heat need to emulate the celtics philosophy

  • Ronald

    I was wondering, how come the Heat don’t attempt to install the triangle ala the 90′s Bulls? Their offensive sets are really awkward.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    Allen, I think you wrote this a bit too early. Their swagger is slowly building. Especially with Dwyane and Bron. After two more easy games, they return home to play the Hornets. If they can pound them out, you’ll know that they are keeping track of past missteps.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    You could be right eboy.

  • rich

    well no champion has been considered a bunch of nice guys they do need to play a little more dirty. lakers have kobe and fish, spurs play and played dirt, celtics… nuff said. pistons…. nuff said. not too many nice guy teams winning rings in the past while

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    so what your saying is, the miami heat as a team = the hulk.

  • http://www.boogiewilliams.com Boing Dynasty

    Its obvious everyone jumped on the Heat early because they realized it might be thier only chance. Eventually the Celts and Lakers are going to be to old to compete and the Heat are going to walk thru 3 or 4 titles, possibly in a row.

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